Sai
Sai (サイ, Sai) is an Anbu of Konohagakure. Raised as a member of Root, Sai has no emotions and has difficulty connecting with others. When he is added to Team Kakashi as a replacement for Uchiha Sasuke, he begins to learn about people's feelings and tries to develop himself as a part of Team Kakashi. Years after the Fourth Shinobi War he forms his own family with Kodama Kyoshi . Background Sai was orphaned as a child and recruited into Root , a secret branch of the ANBU . There he was raised and conditioned to have no personality, personal connections, or a name; "Sai" being given to him for the purposes of joining Team Kakashi. Though largely successful in this regard, Sai retained an interest in art. When Shin , an older Root member, discovered Sai's drawing ability, he encouraged Sai's talent and they became very close. Over time, Sai came to think of Shin as an older brother and looked up to him. Unfortunately, Sai and Shin were supposed to fight to the death by Root regulations, in a final step to eradicate emotions. Before that happened, however, Shin died of an unnamed illness and Sai's Root training suppressed most of the memories he had of him. Sai and Shin were forced to fight by Shimura Danzō but Shin died before the battle could be finished. Shin told Sai to report to Danzō that he killed him in battle and before succumbing to his illness, told his brother that he had to suppress his feelings and that he should live for the both of them. Before Shin's death, Sai created a picture book that would depict all the opponents they faced and illustrate the feelings that they shared for each other. Sai organised the book so that his and Shin's portraits would be located at opposite ends of the book, and in the centre pages would be a picture of them holding hands. Some time after the loss of Shin, Sai forgot that this was his intention, and the picture book was left unfinished, though he could never bring it upon himself to discard the book. During his time in Root, Sai was ordered to eliminate a large number of individuals that posed a threat against Konoha. The last assassination he performed was of Samidare Unmo . In an attempt to gain a powerful fūinjutsu after seeing the Third Hokage sacrifice his life in an attempt to defeat Orochimaru, Danzō supervised Sai while he learned how to use the Sealing Technique: Tiger Vision Staring Bullet , noting that it would be dangerous as he would have to use "emotional energy" in order to make the technique stronger. Sai struggled greatly with this endeavour as it conflicted with his training and, consumed by negative emotions, his training was seemingly left incomplete. Personality When first introduced, Sai was distinguished by his total lack of emotion which he often masks with a false, cheerful, yet transparent façade. After much mental conditioning and training while in Root, Sai had suppressed almost all of his emotions, laying all of his loyalty to whoever commands him, and thus making it easier for him to accomplish dangerous, unpleasant, or unethical missions. Due to this training and his lack of social experience and personal initiative, Sai has great trouble in understanding how bonds between people can motivate others. He often showcases this confusion after thinking about why Naruto would go so far to save Sasuke , a traitor, even though Naruto had not been ordered to do so. Sai's social awkwardness tended to get people angry, because he would often speak without considering his words and their effects on people. This was due to his inability to realise the difference between a rude statement and a true statement. Sai had read somewhere in a book that giving somebody a nickname would bring you closer to that person and develop your friendship, this resulted in Sai hurting Haruno Sakura 's feelings, because he called her ugly, stating the first true character trait that came to his mind. This also nearly led to enraging Chōji , while eating barbecue with Team Asuma and Team Kakashi he nearly called him "fatso" before Naruto covered his mouth before he could finish. After spending more time with Team Kakashi, Sai comes to appreciate bonds, particularly the bond that exists between Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, though Sai would come to have his doubts about Sasuke when he began to commit crimes on an international scale, which Naruto would suffer for. This causes him to break out of his emotionless shell and start to remember the times he had with his own "brother", Shin. In doing so, Sai was able to start giving genuine smiles. Wanting to experience personal bonds for himself, Sai sets out to make as many friends as he can. However, since he is learning most of this out of books and by trial and error, he often accidentally ends up offending people with his nicknames and conversation. He has come to develop a more genuine, pleasant and thoughtful personality, while also showing signs of more emotion, such as enthusiasm and occasionally nervousness. After his first time with Team Kakashi, Sai is seen being friendly towards others, helping companions when they need it, referring to peers kindly, and having fun in social situations. The greatest change in his personality, however, came after he encounters his reincarnated brother. When Shin is used as a living bomb by Deidara, Sai becomes enraged and attacks Sasori and Deidara mercilessly, showing genuine rage on his face. Sai also displays genuine sadness, shedding tears when his brother is freed from the technique and disappears. Sai is very observant, and is always focused on his missions. He pays a lot of attention to detail, allowing him to quickly notice if something is not as it appears, as shown from how he easily sees through Yamato's tricks. This awareness spans beyond the trials of duty, as Sai was later quick to understand the nature of Naruto's inner burden. What he failed to understand, however, was that Naruto was not trying to save Sasuke just for Sakura. Sai holds Naruto in high regard, and tries to assist Naruto whenever he's going through hardships. Appearance Sai has short, black hair, and black eyes which contrast with his very pale skin. He is usually seen carrying a small backpack with his brush, scrolls, and ninja ink in it. He wears a short black jacket with red straps — as customary of all Root members, to most likely show his allegiance to the organisation. He also carries a tip-less tantō on his back. The rest of his outfit consisted of a high-collared midriff shirt, black pants, shinobi sandals and gloves with his index and thumb fingers exposed, most likely to facilitate the use of his drawing based techniques. When first seen with Team Kakashi, his jacket has a long right and short left sleeves. He had Danzō 's cursed seal on the back of his tongue until Danzō's death, which caused it to disappear. Naruto , Sakura , Haru and Ino said he physically resembled Sasuke, despite his shorter hair and paler skin-tone. When he's not on missions, Sai wears a casual outfit consisting of a long-sleeve shirt with a high collar, matching pants, and his regular shinobi sandals. This outfit was first depicted as being purple in colour and later, navy blue. He doesn't wear his forehead protector or gloves with this outfit. Sai Part II 5 Scroll Full.png|Sai at age 20. Sai Part II 5 Full.png|Sai at age 20, without his scroll. When Sai uses the Sealing Technique: Tiger Vision Staring Bullet and his negative emotions surface because of his use of "emotional energy", his eyes turn a translucent red colour and his sclerae turn black. This is apparently, as when Danzō countered the symptoms, ink splattered from Sai's body. Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Sai, at age 20, had his hair grow longer with his bangs framing his face. His attire is similar but both sleeves of his shirt are long and his boots reach more above his calves. He also has a large scroll strapped horizontally to his back. Abilities As a member of Root, Sai is a highly capable ninja, considered by Danzō himself to be the strongest member of his generation. Danzō even had enough faith in Sai's abilities to task him with single-handedly killing Uchiha Sasuke. Ninjutsu Nature Transformation Sai also has proficient skill in Earth Release able to use the nature transformation to conceal himself underground without disrupting the surface of the earth. He can also use the elements of Fire, Waterand Yang . Ink Techniques Sai's most notable talent is his skill as an artist, and he claims to have drawn thousands of pictures. Despite the great quantity and magnitude of the things he has drawn, he has never given any of his works a name, his lack of emotion making it impossible for him to form a significant enough attachment to his art to give titles. Even so, Sai's drawing talent is also the source of his technique, known as Super Beast Imitating Drawing . To be able to execute his Super Beast Imitation Drawing technique, Sai carries around a specialised custom scroll to draw on, the scroll's roller has compartments for Sai's ink brush and to hold a supply of ink . A distinct advantage of this technique is that he can perform it with a single hand, leaving the other free for enemy counter-attacks. In the anime, Sai gets his ink from a supply store, which he says is the ink that works best for his Super Beast Imitation Drawing techniques. By infusing his chakra into the ink beforehand and drawing objects with a brush on his scroll, which he can do very quickly, Sai is able to bring his creations to life by animating the ink directly off the page. These creations grow to life-size once they have been brought to life — similar to Deidara 's explosive clay constructs . Sai typically creates giant birds for long range transport for himself or others, and lion-like monsters or giants for attack, or objects like umbrellas for everyday use. He can create snakes and use them as strong bindings on enemies, or mice to quickly scout an area. Sai can make clones of himself for reconnaissance. For discreet communiques when he is undercover, Sai is able to turn the words he writes into small animals, allowing them to travel to their intended target unnoticed. He has also demonstrated the ability to create large scale drawings as shown during the battle of the two ambush squads; he created two large human beings which resembled the Benevolent Kings (仁王, Niō). These had enough physical strength to completely destroy Deidara's clay bird as well as send him along with Sasori plummeting to the ground. Sai can create explosive tags with his ink technique. He can draw long lines of tags attached to small birds, allowing him to bombard enemies from the air. Fūinjutsu As noted by Kakashi, Sai is one of Danzō's prized soldiers and as such, his Root training also included learning fūinjutsu . His sealing technique allows him to trap people within his paintings by drawing a tiger on a large scroll with a giant paint brush. Since it takes time to draw the tiger, he needs allies to protect him while in battle. It is stated that Sai uses "emotional energy" to bolster the technique. This is a double-edged sword as Sai becomes susceptible to his negative emotions. Taijutsu Despite not being his speciality, Sai has shown to be proficient in taijutsu . He was able to react and block Naruto 's attempt to stab him with a kunai very easily with his tantō. He also was able to subdue Yakushi Kabuto very easily and block Uchiha Sasuke 's attempt to stab Naruto, with Sasuke commenting that he blocked the attack in the most appropriate manner. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he was able to break Shin's neck with a flying knee kick in mid-air. Even without the use of his tantō, he has shown great skill with a bladed weapon and was able to fight equally with an oponent wielding a larger weapon. Other Skills As a Root Anbu, Sai has keen observation skills and is also skilled in kenjutsu , wielding a tantō in battle. He is also very proficient with the Body Flicker Technique , and is capable of surprising even highly-skilled shinobi with it. Trivia *As an Anbu member, Sai refers to Kakashi as his Senpai out of respect. *According to the databook(s): **Sai's hobbies are drawing and calligraphy. **Sai wishes to fight Kakashi Hatake. **Sai's favourite word is "Comrades" (仲間, Nakama). **Sai's favourite food is momen tofu, while his least favourite is mitarashi dango. **Sai has a frank, obedient and submissive personality. Category:Characters Category:Konohagakure Category:Root Category:Allied Shinobi Forces Category:Anbu